ESPN getting way too big for its britches

ESPN has hired so many high-profile journalists that I used to think the letters stood for "Emptying Sportswriters from Profitable Newspapers." But people kept laughing at the phrase "profitable newspapers."

Still, those few of us in this profession who don't work for ESPN have an obligation to keep an eye on the Worldwide Leader.

And a couple of recent ESPN items are worth a look.

The first is more silly than sinister. A copy of a casting call for a planned ESPN commercial leaked on awfulannouncing.com recently, featuring some borderline offensive (and, yeah, funny) stereotypes of students from various schools.

The memo was written by a production company, not ESPN, and listed what it was looking for from actors to portray student fans of various schools. Once the copy was leaked, ESPN pulled the ad.

From Duke, the casting call asked for "a smart, with it, young white male. He's handsome. He's from money. … He's the kind of guy everyone wants to be."

From Louisville, the memo called for a male. "He's short. He's Hispanic. And one day he hopes to carry on in proud Louisville tradition and race thoroughbreds."

The Tennessee girl was decked head-to-toe in orange and, "Did we mention she's crazy? A slutty girl who would hang out at the cowgirl hall of fame."

You get the picture.

Notre Dame's was "an Asian kid … who is always fighting." Syracuse? "A Jewish kid from Long Island that is loving the college experience." I'd give you Indiana and Kentucky's descriptions, too, but theirs were the most insulting kind of all -- not included in the commercial.

Now, none of this is surprising, but it does give some insight into the most powerful media entity in sports. People want to know why ESPN can't just show the games but has to bring in so many external stimuli. They want to know why Dick Vitale is talking about 200 things other than the game on the court.

Don't forget this. To most fans, the game they're watching is a game. To ESPN, it's a show. While the analysts are still analysts in the traditional sense, they are also, at times, characters. How else to explain Lou Holtz? Lee Corso even dons a costume.

ESPN already holds sports fans captive. Now they want everyone else.

Sometimes I think it might succeed. And that brings us to the other ESPN story of note. The network has bought broadcast rights to the Bowl Championship Series.

Think about this -- ESPN now owns the rights to every major bowl in America except the Cotton Bowl. Not only will it broadcast them, it will promote them, it will determine when they are played. And it has bought up many of the nation's top sportswriters, who will provide thousands of words of written opinion -- not just on these events but on many others whose broadcast rights ESPN owns.

Jason Whitlock, former ESPN commentator and a columnist for the Kansas City Star, put it this way in speaking with the Chicago Sun Times: "It's like if every political writer in America were working just for the Obama campaign."

How big is ESPN? Big enough to snag the last live interview with both presidential candidates the night before the election.

It's also too big. It no longer covers sports or broadcasts sports -- it is sports. And if it wants to turn Notre Dame into the "Fighting Asians," pretty soon it might have the power to do that, too.

Reach Eric Crawford at (502) 582-4372 or ecrawford@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/crawford.

Louisville, Kentucky • Southern Indiana

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ESPN getting way too big for its britches

ESPN has hired so many high-profile journalists that I used to think the letters stood for 'Emptying Sportswriters from Profitable Newspapers.' But people kept laughing at the phrase 'profitable